The Radiology department in Rashid hospital provides radiology services to the biggest hospital in Dubai which embraces the 24/7 emergency and Trauma Centre besides the stroke unit in Dubai. The department is armed with 44 different types of radiology equipment, and more than 100 professionals, delivering approximately 13000 radiological exams per month and receiving patients not only from Dubai, but also from the other Emirates. It delivers interventional radiology services on a 24 x 7 scale besides a wide range of examinations from all clinical specialties. The department is a vital contributor to the patient’s journey of acute stroke patients, trauma patients, cardiac patients, and COVID 19 patients by providing medical imaging that saves lives, resources, and time.
Services
The department is a vital contributor to the patient’s journey in different specialties. The services in the acute stroke unit help to improve the patient’s outcomes. For example, the service timing for acute stroke patients was brought down compared to the international standard requirements. Furthermore, it introduced new modalities like the multiphase CT cerebral angiography protocol with CT cerebral perfusion to provide an accurate assessment of patients with acute ischemic stroke, and functional MRI service to aid the neuro-surgeon to safely decide which part and function of the brain will be at higher risk during and after brain surgery. Furthermore, in collaboration with the neurology department, an AI (artificial intelligence) tool was introduced to aid the radiologists in identifying stroke areas. This has transformed the care of patients with acute stroke and contributed to Rashid Hospital Stroke Unit recognition as a centre of excellence according to the German standards for the past 5 years.
The provision on time of the non-invasive cardiac imaging element for suspected or known coronary artery disease was ensured to reduce cardiovascular mortality. Moreover, the Cardiac MR Service used to assess cardiac iron overload as well as liver and pancreas among thalassemia patients, led to an improved iron chelation therapy and the reduction of cardiac mortality rate over the last three years.
The dedicated MRI service for Multiple sclerosis utilizes international standards, leading to the recognition of the Neurology team as a center of excellence in Multiple sclerosis (MS) from the international federation of MS. Besides, the polytrauma CT scan protocol was introduced in collaboration with both Trauma and Surgery departments and in accordance with standards of the German Registry of Trauma.
The Department has made available CT and MRI Enterography for patients with available with inflammatory bowel diseases. The department has performed six CT Enterography and 85 MRI Enterography transactions to date. It has also introduced Contrast Abdominal Ultrasound to replace follow-up CT abdomen for liver lesions and abnormalities, and Ultrasound shear wave elastography, as a non- invasive tool to cut down the number of liver biopsies. A total of 34 USS Abdomen Elastography transactions have been performed so far.
At the health screening level, the Radiology Department played a vital role in screening for pulmonary TB in Dubai that exhibited declining incidence rates (18.64 % 2018 compared to 25% in 2015).
Rashid Hospital was the main receiving hospital of COVID-19 patients, for which it created six dedicated taskforces and extended the Chest X-ray service when required to, outside the Hospital. Meantime, staff safety was ensured and no staff members were infected.
The scope and quality of services of the Radiology Department have contributed to the Customer Happiness Centre; the patients' trust, explanation received from the radiologist, the professionalism of the team members, and other KPI all exceed the target for 2019.
Continuing Medical Education and Research
The Department is a regional center for FRCR examination preparation courses. It is a recognized training center for radiologists and radiographers from all Emirates and other countries like Hungary, India, UK, and Italy. Furthermore, it has received residents from Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, and more than one hundred radiography students for training over the past three years.
The Department has produced three volumes of ‘The Scan’ Radiology Magazine. The staff has contributed to 36 publications, 12 poster presentations, and 68 oral presentations, many of which were awarded best poster and case presentations in conferences.
Recognition
The Radiology Department has contributed to the international recognition of three centers of excellence at Rashid hospital. For the past five years, the EU recognized the stroke unit as a center of excellence according to the German standards. The International Federation of MS has recognized the neurology service as a centre of excellence in Multiple sclerosis (MS), and the Gastrointestinal unit is recognized as a centre of excellence in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Moreover, the Department met JCI accreditation quality and safety requirements and is participating in the international Shuaa project that is implemented across the DHA.
For all the above contributions, the Radiology Department has been nominated to be the recipient of the Hamdan Award for Outstanding Clinical Department in the Public Sector in the United Arab Emirates for the term 2019-2020.
